San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Randy Moss speaks during Media Day for the NFL's Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, Louisiana January 29, 2013. (REUTERS)

NEW ORLEANS - It is easy to predetermine what Randy Moss is and what he has been for most of his career if you listen to the critics and believe the convenient populist view of him.

He’s selfish. He’s a bad guy. He’s trouble on a team. He’s a wide receiver diva. At one time, he may have been all that — and more.

And then you spend 25 minutes listening to him answer questions, watching him, and more time talking to his coaches and his teammates and everything you thought you knew seems blurred in a football game of perception versus reality.